Last weekend, I was at Best Buy looking for an item that I could spend my Best Buy Rewards mystery prize coupon on. I checked out the movies. Nothing interested me, so I figured I’d check the music. Best Buy isn’t really the best option for music. They don’t have a large selection, but they do usually have the latest releases. As I glanced over the new releases, I saw a brand new album from The Neighbourhood. My eyes lit up. I love those guys. Their first major single “Sweater Weather” was basically the anthem of my spring 2013. I didn’t even know they had new album coming out. I was definitely spending my mystery coupon on something (got the album for $5.29…WIN).
Formed in 2011, The Neighbourhood (The NBHD) hails from Newbury Park, California. The alternative, indie rock group comprised of members Jesse Rutherford (vocals), Jeremy Freedman (guitar), Zach Abels (guitar), Mikey Margott (bass), and Brandon Fried (drums) (original drummer Bryan Sammis left the group in early 2014) decided to spell their band name using the British spelling of “neighborhood” as to not be confused with another band of the same name who used the American spelling. They released two EPs in 2012, I’m Sorry… (May) and Thank You, (December) followed by the release of their first full length in April of 2013, I Love You. It debuted at number 39 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. The band played dates at SXSW and Coachella that spring and toured the U.S. throughout the summer. Their single “Sweater Weather” reached number 1 on Billboard’s Alternative chart by early June 2013. The group spent 2014 touring in Europe and released a mixtape album titled #000000 & #FFFFFF (the color codes for black and white) on November 28, 2014. It wasn’t until August of 2015 that the group announced their second full length album Wiped Out! would be released on October 30th.
The Neighbourhood surely fits the bill of alternative rock, indie rock. You might even say they’re a little experimental, but to me they always sounded a bit more than those categories. Maybe it’s just lead singer Jesse Rutherford’s voice, but I feel like they have an R&B sound to the vocals mixed with a rock background. I mean listen to some of their songs and tell me it doesn’t sound like baby-making music. They basically play baby-making music for hipsters.
I first heard of The Neighbourhood in March 2013. I saw a friend tweet about the song “Sweater Weather” so, of course, since I’m always looking for new music, I looked up the song. I fell in love. It was my jam for a couple weeks straight. The first week I listened to it on repeat constantly. I remember playing it for my friends when I picked them up for our weekly hang out of watching the TV show Pretty Little Liars. If I had a soundtrack for my life, that song would definitely be a part of it because it became synonymous with that incredibly inspirational time period (for other reasons unrelated to The NBHD). After that, I eventually heard other songs by The Neighbourhood and took a liking to them as well (not quite as much as “Sweater Weather”, but they were still pretty good). My friend bought me the album for Christmas that year and I had it on replay in my car for a while. That’s why finding their newest release at Best Buy last weekend was such a pleasant surprise, especially since the new record is awesome.
The new album has that same groove featured most of their songs (*cough cough* baby-making music). Their latest single “R.I.P. to My Youth” is the final track. Rutherford almost seems to sing-rap the verses while coming in with his signature smooth vocals on the chorus. Songs like “The Beach”, “Daddy Issues”, and “Baby Came Home 2/Valentines” are almost pushing into the rock ballad category, while other songs like “Prey” and “Cry Baby” lead into the record with that signature Neighbourhood sound. I even got the impression of some folk undertones in the song “Single”. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the new album is the first track “A Moment of Silence”. It actually is a moment of silence, or 30 seconds, if you want to get technical. Popping the record in my car’s CD player without looking at the names of the track-listing, I was confused by it at first. I waited for the album to start, only to hear dead air. Then, when a song started playing, it was already on the second track. It was seriously about 15 minutes ago while researching these guys that I understood my confusion. If you’re already a fan of The Neighbourhood, I recommend picking up this album. It features hints of other music styles while still sticking to their sound roots. I also recommend the album if you have a date scheduled with your significant other and you really want to get into their pants. In fact, I have other songs I can recommend for that too:
- Sweater Weather
- Afraid
- Flawless
- Female Robbery
- W.D.Y.W.F.M.?
- West Coast
- #icanteven
- No Grey
- Wires
- The entirety of Wiped Out!
The Spentertainic Source 